Our People

Andrew W. Blair

Associate

Andy has experience representing closely held businesses and their owners with both their business legal matters as well as helping with succession and estate planning to preserve a long-term legacy for each client. Andy prepares estate plans for high net worth individuals with complex business and investment arrangements and complex family situations as well as affordably drafting and preparing wills for clients with more streamlined estates. Andy’s focus is working with each individual and each businesses particular circumstances and providing a legal solution tailored to those circumstances.

About

Andy is a member of Manning Fulton’s corporate practice group and is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). He advises individuals and closely held business owners on a variety of legal matters with a particular focus on contract negotiation and drafting, business and employment counseling, as well as helping business owners and individuals prepare for long-term succession and wealth planning.

Andy also works with individuals to assist with their estate planning and estate administration matters. This ranges from the drafting of Wills and Powers of Attorney as well as multi-generational complex trust and wealth transfer advising and document drafting. Andy regularly advises clients on estate planning from a tax perspective to help maximize opportunities and navigate the complex tax rules around transferring IRAs, 401(k)s and other investments through a will or trust to preserve a legacy.

Andy also regularly works with families after a loved one has passed away. Administering a probate estate can be a complex process and Andy has extensive experience helping families deal with the intricacies of North Carolina probate law and managing the administration process to reduce the burden on family members during what is already a difficult time. Andy’s business experience makes him particularly suited to assist families with estates that may contain business interests that need to be transferred as part of an administration.

Clients benefit from Andy’s 10 years of finance and accounting experience with two public corporations that provided logistics and marketing services to customers of all segments of the market. During his time with UPS and Dex Media Andy was responsible for corporate accounting; project management; corporate cost-saving strategies; strategic forecasting and budgeting; and process improvement initiatives. He has extensive experience working with cross-functional teams. Prior to attending law school, Andrew earned an M.B.A. in Global Supply Chain Management from North Carolina State University.

While attending law school at Campbell University, Andy clerked for The Honorable J. Rich Leonard (United States Bankruptcy Court – Eastern District Of North Carolina) and The Honorable John R. Jolly Jr. (The North Carolina Business Court). He also had legal internships at Rex Healthcare and The North Carolina Attorney General’s office. At Rex, Andy assisted with UNC Health Systems contracts and compliance issues. Andy’s time at the Attorney General’s office saw him working in the Consumer Protection division targeting companies engaging in mortgage fraud and charitable fraud.

In his spare time, you will find Andy spending more days of the week than not at the WRAL soccer complex coaching his two sons in soccer and playing in his bands at local spots on the weekend around Raleigh.

Representative Transactions

Estate and Guardian Planning & Administration

Preparation of wills, trusts, powers of attorney and various other estate planning documents designed to fit my client’s specific needs.

Providing all levels of assistance to my clients in administration of probate estates from initial filing of opening court documents with Probate Court through all phases of probate administration. I have successfully assisted with Probate matters throughout the entire state of North Carolina.

Successfully represented client’s family members seeking to have a guardian appointed in Probate Court for elderly or disabled family members.

Business Law

Representation of startup businesses – assistance with incorporation and organization documents for corporations and LLCs, in addition to drafting Bylaws, Operating Agreements, and other relevant documents.

Representation of companies in acquisitions and takeovers of other company, including drafting or stock purchase, asset purchase, and other documents incorporated.

Representation of companies seeking investment partners both domestically and internationally and preparation of requisite subscription agreements, operating agreements, and other relevant documents.

General Counsel Function – successfully represented independent businesses as their general counsel assisting with contract negotiation and drafting, employment matters, non-competition and non-solicitation matters, and counseling with regard to risk management from a legal and financial perspective.